Pooling resources to investigate fatal crashes

Monday

May 5, 2014 at 12:01 AMMay 5, 2014 at 10:27 AM

KENTON, Ohio -When Hardin County Sheriff Keith Everhart took the oath of office, he didn't swear to protect just some of the residents and he didn't pledge to investigate only some of the crimes. Everhart acknowledges, however, that his office hasn't had the manpower or expertise to investigate fatal traffic crashes on its own.

Holly Zachariah, The Columbus Dispatch

KENTON, Ohio —When Hardin County Sheriff Keith Everhart took the oath of office, he didn’t swear to protect just some of the residents and he didn’t pledge to investigate only some of the crimes.

“I don’t like not being able to take care of business in this county when I have someone available,” he said. “It’s my responsibility, and I own that.”

Everhart acknowledges, however, that there are some things his office hasn’t had the manpower or expertise to do in this rural northwestern Ohio county where he has been sheriff since 2009. Investigating fatal traffic crashes is one.

Other sheriffs have the same problem, so when a colleague from a neighboring county floated the idea that perhaps they could pool their resources, Everhart was in.

Now, two deputies each from Champaign, Hardin, Logan and Union counties have formed the Multi-County Crash Reconstruction and Investigation Team. It’s being led by Lt. Rob Bibart of the Union County sheriff’s office. Deputy Jeff Anspach from Logan County, a certified crash reconstructionist, is training the others.

Whoever is available will cross county borders and investigate serious-injury and fatal crashes in the region.

The deputies are being trained to investigate not only vehicle wrecks but also pedestrian fatalities and aircraft crashes. They also will be able to investigate deaths from incidents that generally occur on private property, such as those involving snowmobiles, ATVs and dirt bikes.

The deputies will stay in the positions they have now, whether it be road patrol or some other capacity, and will work investigations only when needed. Each sheriff will be responsible for paying his own deputies whenever they respond as part of the team, regardless of where the crash or incident is located.

“It’s about paying it forward,” said Union County Sheriff Jamie Patton. “No matter who goes where, we know their own county will eventually need one of the others.”

An advantage is that no road deputies have to be pulled from their duties to handle the investigations, which typically take hours, Patton said. The sheriff in the county where a crash occurs will decide whether his own team members are available or whether he needs the extra help.

“A fatal-crash scene is like a homicide scene. Once you’re done, you’re done, and you can’t get that scene back,” Patton said. “By training this team now, we’re confident in our expertise to handle any situation, and it won’t come at a cost of slower response times elsewhere.”

Investigating fatal crashes across the state, especially in rural areas, typically has been left to the State Highway Patrol. The sheriffs involved said this new team isn’t about racing anyone to scenes to stake a claim.

Instead, Patton said, it’s about better use of resources. State troopers are busy, too, and sometimes they can’t get to a crash scene quickly. He said deputies are always dispatched anyway and sometimes find themselves sitting in an idling cruiser waiting for a trooper to arrive.

“As the sheriff’s office, we should be able to provide the service,” he said. “Now, we can.”

Lt. Molly Harris, commander of the Marysville patrol post, which is responsible for Union and Logan counties, said she understands why the team formed and supports it. She said that, just as they do now, the deputies and troopers will work well together no matter who is in charge.

A few sheriffs offices, such as Crawford and Logan counties, have long handled their own crash investigations, said Bob Cornwell, executive director of the Buckeye State Sheriffs Association. But lean budgets and fewer deputies have meant that even if sheriffs wanted to take on more-complex fatalities, they couldn’t, Cornwell said.

He said this four-county team, which had a triple fatality in Union County in February as its first case, will lead the way for others. Coshocton County Sheriff Tim Rogers already has asked Patton for more information.

“This is a new wave of working together, of sharing resources, that we’re seeing so much more of,” he said.

Anspach has been a deputy with Logan County since 1989 and has investigated crashes there for much of that time.

He took the new team members to Brim’s Imports and Auto Salvage yard in Kenton recently to inspect crushed vans and mangled cars. As the broken glass crunched under their feet, the deputies pulled on the seatbelts to see if they’d been in use. They took measurements of the damage to help them figure out speed and direction of force. They checked tires to see if they could tell whether the anti-lock brakes engaged.

There are computer programs that can help investigators with crash reconstruction. Each county from the team might pitch in as much as $5,000 to invest in some of the technology, Patton said.

But Anspach still does the calculations in his head and sketches diagrams on pieces of paper. Even though the deputies he is training eventually might use a computer to do it for them, he wants them to learn his way, too.

“A computer can’t testify in court,” Anspach said. “If we’re going to do this, we all need to have the foundation laid to understand every aspect of the crash. Old-school doesn’t mean out of date.”

hzachariah@dispatch.com

@hollyzachariah

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